South Asia Citizens Web

The unraveling of the Ishrat Jahan case last week came close on the heels of the convictions for the Sardarpura massacre, the first of the eight post-Godhra riot cases being monitored by the Supreme Court. Narendra Modi’s legal troubles are not only for the carnage that took place on his watch in 2002 but also for the series of mysterious killings of those who had allegedly sought to take revenge on him or fallen out with him in the wake of the riots.

See video and pictures of direct action at the Chhatissgarh sadan in New Delhi on 1st December 2011. Feminist groups of Delhi had gathered there hoping to meet and speak with the Chief minister of Chattisgarh, about sexual assault by police against Soni Sori a tribal school teacher from Chattisgarh, but he refused to meet them. The assembly of feminists at the gates of Chattisgarh was then forcibly dislodged by the police. Later press conference was held where demands by the feminist and human rights activists were made public via the media.

We want a nuclear-free Tamil Nadu, nuclear-free India, and nuclear-free world. And we start with Koodankulam.

India has witnessed a strange display of double standards over the past few weeks. The government dismissed the fears of the locals at Koodankulam, Tamil Nadu, that the nuclear reactors there might undergo an accident. However, the fears of international nuclear suppliers — that if a major accident were to occur, the Indian Nuclear Liability Act might force them to pay large sums in compensation — were treated as serious and the government has just come out with rules that almost completely indemnify them. This undermines the bill passed by Parliament in 2010.

On 25 November, the UN Committee against Torture issued its concluding observations on the compliance of Sri Lanka with its international obligations under the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. The Committee considered that, despite the defeat of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), it remains seriously concerned about the continued and consistent allegations of widespread use of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment of suspects in police custody, especially to extract “confessions” or other information to be used in criminal proceedings.